Formula E

Formula E in London: Title contender Evans takes pole position on Saturday, Wehrlein in third place on the grid

Timo Pape

Timo Pape

Shiv Gohil / Spacesuit Media

Mitch Evans has won what was supposed to be the most important qualifying session of the 2024 Formula E season. In the final, the Jaguar driver beat brand colleague Sebastien Buemi in the Envision, securing not only grid position 1 but also three important world championship points for pole position. Pascal Wehrlein - until then equal on points with Evans - finished third. World championship leader Nick Cassidy only managed 17th place on the grid!

Group A: Wehrlein shines, Cassidy dramatically only 9th

The first eleven drivers in qualifying faced a real "group of death" with drivers such as Nick Cassidy, Pascal Wehrlein, Oliver Rowland, Sebastien Buemi, Robin Frijns and Jake Dennis. And as if that wasn't challenging enough, it started to rain just in time for qualifying. Although not too heavy, the drivers went full power early on to set a good lap time in case it got worse.

Sergio Sette Camara drove straight ahead in turn 1 and had to turn round. Then the rain eased a little, making the track faster. In contrast to other qualifying sessions, almost nobody came into the pits to change tyres - apart from Jake Hughes and Sette Camara, who would later end up in the last positions. The other nine drivers continued to deliver one fast lap after another. As the track got steadily faster, the top positions also changed hands. Wehrlein was fastest with one minute to go.

After the time had elapsed, however, there were numerous improvements - the tension rose! Wehrlein improved once again and won the difficult Group A! Buemi finished second ahead of Rowland and Frijns - the first time since the season opener in Mexico that both Envision drivers had reached the quarter-finals. Drama for Jaguar, however: World championship leader Cassidy only managed ninth place in his group - and will have to start the title fight from the back of the field! World champion Dennis, Sam Bird, Nyck de Vries, Edo Mortara, Sette Camara and Hughes also failed to finish from fifth place onwards.

Group B: Evans confident, Felix da Costa narrowly fails

There were not quite as many outstanding qualifiers in Group B as just before. However, Mitch Evans and Jean-Eric Vergne were probably on most people's radar. As the track was now dry again, the session was more "normal". Evans set the best lap time in the first six minutes. He was followed in the top four by Max Günther, who had slightly touched the wall with his right rear, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jehan Daruvala in the second Maserati. Then it was time for the usual tyre change in the pits. However, Porsche tried an alternative strategy with Antonio Felix da Costa and let him drive through.

Then it was time for the decisive laps - opened by Evans. The Jaguar driver remained fastest, while Nico Müller improved to second place! Strong performance from the Swiss on his final race weekend for ABT Cupra. Norman Nato and Vergne also made it into the duel phase. Felix da Costa, on the other hand, narrowly failed to make it through to the group stage in fifth place! Lining up behind him were: Günther, Sacha Fenestraz, Daruvala, Vandoorne, Dan Ticktum and Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian was more than three tenths of a second behind his team-mate Müller.

Overview: Formula E qualifying in London (1/2)

Quarter-finals

QF1: Oliver Rowland vs Sebastien Buemi

Former Nissan team-mates Rowland and Buemi met for the first time in the Gen3 era. Buemi got off to the better start. Rowland was able to make up some time in the second section of the race. In the end, he was still more than two tenths of a second down on the veteran, after both were almost equally fast in sector 3. Buemi somewhat surprising, but convincing in the semi-final!

QF2: Robin Frijns vs. Pascal Wehrlein

This was Wehrlein's twelfth duel this season - a Formula E record! This time he had a particularly fast opponent, whom he had already beaten twice in qualifying duels. However, Frijns was clearly faster in sector 1! Wehrlein countered in the second section - the tension grew. In fact, the German Porsche driver was able to turn the tide and beat Frijns by 39 thousandths of a second! Another important step for Wehrlein in the title fight.

QF3: Norman Nato vs. Nico Müller

Nato and Müller started their laps with almost identical times. However, the Andretti driver was able to carve out a small lead in sector 2. Even though the final section of the track went to Müller, the ABT driver was narrowly beaten by 83 thousandths of a second. Nato in the semi-final - the next strong performance from the Frenchman, who could reportedly leave the team - to make way for Müller of all people!

QF4: Jean-Eric Vergne vs Mitch Evans

This clash of the giants had already taken place twice in the 2024 season, always in the final. Evans won once and Vergne once. Evans set the bar very high in the first sector and was a good two tenths of a second faster than Vergne. The second sector was almost identical. And after sector 3 also went to Evans, Vergne was clearly beaten by almost four tenths of a second. Nevertheless, 5th place on the grid for Vergne - that's how good Evans was! The "Kiwi" in masterful form and therefore still in the race for pole position against rival Wehrlein.

Semi-final

SF1: Pascal Wehrlein vs Sebastien Buemi

In the first semi-final, Buemi made the slightly better start to the round. In sector 2, the 2016 champion even extended his lead to more than two tenths of a second! To the surprise of many spectators, Wehrlein lost another two tenths in the final section! Envision driver Buemi thus entered the final with a lead of more than four tenths of a second - for the first time since the Mexico City E-Prix in January! Wehrlein, on the other hand, missed the chance to score three important bonus points in the championship battle.

SF2: Norman Nato vs Mitch Evans

The second semi-final began as expected: with an advantage for Evans. However, sector 2 went to Nato with a slight advantage. Ultimately, however, Evans finished 1.84 tenths of a second ahead of the Frenchman, once again confidently advancing to the final against Buemi. Nato will start the race from 4th on the grid, directly behind Wehrlein. The two remaining Porsche cars therefore had to submit to the two remaining Jaguar cars, which were once again the measure of all things in London.

Final: Mitch Evans vs Sebastien Buemi

After Evans and Buemi had met four times in the duel phase last year (3:1 in favour of the New Zealander), it was only the second duel between the two this season. Buemi had won the semi-final in Mexico. This time he also had the slightly better first sector! However, Evans hit back in the second section of the track and made up a tenth of a second. In the end, the Jaguar driver was 69 thousandths of a second faster than Buemi due to two pink sectors - pole position and three championship points for the title contender!

This was Evans' ninth pole of his Formula E career. He is now the sole third-placed driver in the current rankings. The bonus points enabled him to reduce his deficit on world championship leader Cassidy from twelve to nine points. In view of Cassidy's poor starting position, Evans could open the door to the title again in the first of two London races on Saturday.

The penultimate race of the 2024 Formula E World Championship season will take place early on Saturday evening at 6pm (CEST).

Results & lap times

Championship standings (drivers & teams)

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